Magnetoresistance is a material property in which its electrical resistance changes when a magnetic field is applied. Giant magnetoresistance (“GMR”) is a type of magnetoresistance in which multilayers may alternate between ferromagnetic and non-magnetic layers. Sensors or switches including GMR nanowires are typically formed by substrate embedded or discrete dispersed nanowires. However, devices utilizing substrate embedded nanowires suffer from the disadvantage of not producing enough surface area. The cost per device is thereby increased when several devices are needed for a single AC circuit.
Devices using discrete dispersed nanowires improve upon substrate embedded nanowires by dissolving the substrates and spreading the discrete nanowires over a flat surface of the spread substrate. This result may be accomplished using a scalable process, e.g., screen printing or spraying. However, discrete nanowires may be difficult to disperse into a solution in a repeatable manner to obtain consistent wire-to-wire contact.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present improvements may be useful.